Container forming



T. P. M GLYNN CONTAINER FORMING Filed May 8, 1964 Aug. 1, 1967 I! J" i H4 3 17 :1

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,333,515 CONTAINER FORMINGThomasP. McGlynn, Short Hills, N.J:, assignorto Continental Can Company,Inc., New. York, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed May 8, 1964, Ser.No. 366,035 4 Claims. (CI. 93-36) This invention-relates in general'tonew and'useful improvements in the manufacture of containers, and moreparticularly to the formation of container blanks which are formed fromcoatedorlaminated material.

This invention particularly relates-to the manufacture of paper cupswhich are intended for use as hot drink cups and which are insulated bythe application of a plastic foam to the paper. In the past, cups havebeen formed'of a plastic foam-paper laminate. However, the side seams ofsuch cups have been defective in that the plastic foam does notsufliciently securely bond to the paper. On the other hand, whenthe'required paper-to paper bond is obtained, it is necessary to removethe plastic foam from one edge of the cup blank. This is a wastefuloperation both as to time and material.

In view of the foregoing, it is the primary object of this invention toprovide a novel method of forming container blanks from-coated orlaminated web material wherein an edge portion of the web material isleft uncovered and the container-blanks are so formed from the webmaterial wherein the uncovered paper web forms one end'of the containerblank and thereby permitsthe formation of a lapped paper to paper seamwhen a container body is formed from the blank It will be readilyapparent that the method set forth in the above object is-a-highlydesirable one. However, it will be apparent that it would be moredesirable to have the web material of a greater width and a plurality ofWith the'above and other objects in. view that will. hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be.

more-clearly understood by reference to the following detaileddescription, the appended claims and the several views illustrated inthe accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of alaminatedweb in .accordance with thisinvention with a plurality of arcuate container blanks outlined thereon.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the laminated web of FIGURE 2 and shows thespecific cross section thereof- FIGURE 3 is a' plan view of one of theblanks after from the blank of FIGURE 3.

' partof this invention. The foamed plastic web 12 may container blanksformed at onetime. Accordingly, itis another object of this invention toform container blanks in pairs from a coated paper web wherein thecovering on the paper is of a lesserwidth than the paper web leavingnarrow edge portions alongopposite sides of the paper web which areuncovered, andthe container blanks are formed in pairs in endtoendrelation extending entirely across the covered web so that eachcontainer blank of a pair of container blanks is provided with one edgeor end thereof which is free of the covering material.

It has been pointed out above that this invention particularly relatesto the manufacture of cups. The average cup is of a taperedconfiguration so that the cups may be readily internested for shipment,storage and dispensing. As a result, the blank for forming the cup bodyis of an arcuate configuration so that when it is wrapped into thedesired configuration, it will have a generally conical shape. Due tothe curvature of such blanks, unless the blanks are properly cut fromweb material, there will be undue loss of the Web material. It is,therefore, another object of this invention to form arcuate blanks forcup bodies and like tapered container bodies from a continuous web witha minimum waste material, the body blanks being formed in pairs with thetwo body blanks of each pair being reversely arranged so as to be of agenerally S-shape arrangement and with the remote ends of the blanks ofeach pair being parallel so that a pair of blanks will extend entirelyacross a web from which the blanks are formed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel method offorming arcuate blanks for tapered container bodies from a paper-plasticfoam laminate in a manner wherein there is a minimum waste of materialand each resultant blank is so constructed whereby a paper-topaper seammay be provided.

be formed of any suitable plastic which may be. readily foamed toprovide insulating qualities and which is COrn-. patible with foodproducts or other products'to be stored within a container to be formedfrom the. web 10. Itis to be noted from FIGURES l and.2 that the foamedplastic web 12 is of a lesser width than the paper web 11; It is also tobe noted that the foamed plastic web 12 is centered with respect to thepaper web 11" so that the laminated web 10 is provided with margins .13and 14 of paper only. In the forming of container body blanks from thelaminated web 10, it will be'seen that the margins 13 and 14 areadvantageously utilized.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 3 wherein there is illustrated acontainer body blank, such as a blank for forming a cup, which isgenerally referred to by the numeral 15 and which is particularlyadapted for the formation of a tapered container body. The blank 15 isarcuate in outline and includes a pair of curved, concentric side edges16 and 17 of which the side edge 17 is of a greater radius than the sideedge 16. The blank 15 includes a pair of end edges 18 and 19 which areof straight line configuration and which are disposed in generallyconverging relation. The blank 15 is provided with an end portion 20which is formed solely of paper and the remainder of the blank 15 is ofa laminated construction in accordance with the construction of the Webfrom which the blank 15 is formed.

Referring once again to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that when two of theblanks 15 are disposed in end-toend relation with the edges 19 of thetwo blanks in abutting relation, the two blanks form a generallyS-shaped pattern and the end edges 18 are in aparallel relation. Byplacing the pair of blanks 15 on the web 10 in a manner wherein the endedges 18 thereof are parallel to the edges of the web 10, and by makingthe web 10 ;of a Width equal to the spacing of the end edges 18, it willbe seen that the end edges 18 of the pair of blanks 15 register with theside edges of the web 10. In this manner, a pair of blanks 15 may beformed from the laminated web 10 without any waste whatsoever at theends of the pair of blanks 15.

It will also be apparent that the pairs of blanks 15 may be disposed inclosely nesting relation so as to minimize the waste web betweenadjacent pairs of blanks 15.

of the web 10, the uncoated margins 13 and 14 ofthe paper web 11automatically form the uncoated end portions 20 of the blanks 15.Therefore, there is no problem of obtaining the proper coverage of thepaper web portion of each blank 15 with the foamed plastic.

It is to be noted that although the blanks 15 of each pair of blanks aredisposed in reversely facing direction, the blanks of each pair ofblanks are identical.

After the blanks 15 have been suitably cut from the Web 10 by means ofany suitable die cutting apparatus, adhesive is applied to the paper webportion of each blank at one end thereof and the blank is shaped into atubular form with the end portion 20 overlapping the opposite end of theassociated blank and being suitably adhesively secured thereto by meansof adhesive 21, as is clearly shown in FIGURES and 6. If desired, aoertain amount of the adhesive will be provided for disposition betweenthe opposite ends of the foamed plastic web portion of the blank 15 sothat in the resultant container body a seal between the opposed endedges of the foamed plastic web portion will be obtained. This adhesiveis referred to by the numeral 22.

It will be readily apparent that after the cup or container bodyillustrated in FIGURE 5 has been formed, further operations may beperformed thereon, as is necessary, to form a completed container in thenormal manner. The illustrated cup body is generally referred to by thenumeral 23.

It is to be understood that while this invention is primarily directedto the formation of container bodies from V a laminated web, theprincipals of the invention may apply equally as well to coated webswherein the coat ing material is of a type wherein the desired side seambond cannot be obtained. Furthermore, while the principals of thisinvention apply primarily to the formation of blanks intended forgenerally conical container bodies, it will be readily apparent that thebroad principals of the invention will apply equally as well to blanksfor forming cylindrical container bodies. Such blanks would be formed inpairs in opposed end to end relation so that the remote ends of a pairof blanks would have uncoated portions;

Although only a preferred embodiment of the invention has beenspecifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understoodthat other modifications may be made therein within the spirit and scopeof this invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim: 7

1. A method of making container body blanks comprising the steps ofproviding a web of a width substantially equal to the combined lengthsof two container body blanks in end-to-end relation, covering a majorportion of said web on one surface thereof leaving a mar- ,ginaluncoated edge portion along each edge of said web, blanking a pluralityof pairs of end-to-end blanks :from said web with one end of each blankbeing generally aligned with an edge of said web and one end only ofeach blank being free of said covering.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said covering is applied in the form ofa second web.

3. The method of claim I particularly directed to the forming of bodyblanks for tapered containers wherein said body blanks are arcu-ate inoutline and blanks of each pair are reversed end for end with each pairof blanks being generally S-shaped in outline.

4. A method of making container body blankscomprising the steps ofproviding a first web of a width substantially equal to the combinedlengths of two container body blanks in end-to-end relation, providing asecond web of foamed plastic of a width visibly narrower than said firstweb and adhering said second web to one surface of said first webleaving a marginal uncoated edge portion along each edge of said firstweb, blanking a plurality of pairs of end-to-end blanks from said webswith one end of each blank being generally aligned with an edge of saidwebs and one end only of each blank being free of said covering.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,353,183 7/1944 Niederauer.

2,540,565 2/1951 Barbieri 229- 2,842,301 7/1958 Albert 229-15 3,237,8343/1966 Davis et al. 229-1.5

BERNARD STICKNEY, Primary Examiner.

1. A METHOD OF MAKING CONTAINER BODY BLANKS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A WEB OF A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE COMBINED LENGTHS OF TWO CONTAINER BODY BLANKS IN END-TO-END RELATION, COVERING A MAJOR PORTION OF SAID WEB ON ONE SURFACE THEREOF LEAVING A MARGINAL UNCOATED EDGE PORTION ALONG EACH EDGE OF SAID WEB, BLANKING A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF END-TO-END BLANKS FROM SAID WEB WITH ONE END OF EACH BLANK BEING GENERALLY ALIGNED WITH AN EDGE OF SAID WEB AND ONE END ONLY OF EACH BLANK BEING FREE OF SAID COVERING. 